The Zoning By-law Application for 1467 Bathurst St. (the St. Mikes former Petro Canada station) was approved by Toronto & East York Community Council on June 18, 2020 with an Addendum to address the concerns raised by the CLRA related to (i) traffic congestion and related by-pass through our neighbourhood and (ii) assurances that there has been full remediation of the contaminants emanating from the former Petro Canada gas station on the site.
On June 25th Councillor Matlow organized a Conference Call with the CLRA that involved representatives from City Planning and Transportation. We were informed in that call that the next major milestone is the approval of the site plan. The site plan process will take some time and as part of that process there will be community consultation to review the construction management plan and the impact on traffic and what amelioration can be achieved. We emphasized that all construction staging should be managed on site so that no traffic lane or sidewalk will be closed on Bathurst or St. Clair. Further traffic and pedestrian needs should be addressed in the context not only of this development but also in anticipation of the development of several new towers along St. Clair (both residential and commercial) and Bathurst. We discussed ideas already presented such as the addition of a right hand Turn lane along St. Clair for the length of the development or an advanced green arrow from St. Clair to Bathurst Street North. We also spoke to the issue of pedestrian safety crossing Bathurst and the inevitability of a collision between a frustrated driver and pedestrians who, as we practice ourselves, have a predilection to enter an intersection against the flashing amber hand signal.
We will not likely see any massive change in the development proposal at this time as the developer now has his zoning approval. Nevertheless there is still the opportunity to deal with the traffic and congestion issues of concern to our community. Councillor Matlow has requested that the CLRA be incorporated into a working group involving the developer and the City during the whole process.
Regarding the remediation of the lands at 1467 Bathurst St. and the surrounding areas, including Wells Hill Park and the Nordheimer Ravine, City Council, in the Addendum, also requested Engineering and Construction Services, in consultation with City Legal, to undertake a review of the 2001 Council-approved remediation and the status of its implementation. City Council also requested Urban Forestry to undertake an inspection of the Nordheimer ravine to determine whether there is indication of excessive deterioration of trees or atypical forest health concerns and whether there are related fire hazard concerns.
We are pleased that Councillor Matlow is on our side with respect to these important community issues. The site plan discussions will likely take place this fall and at that time we also expect an updated report on the status of the land remediation. We will keep you informed.
